Cold Front
by Ava Chanel
Summary: A vicious winter storm takes the stranded Titans by surprise, and Beast Boy helps Raven find ways to stay warm...Rated M for adult themes and some citrus. BBRae one-shot.


**A/N:** _Inspired by my previous, somewhat festive story "That Sweater", I figured with the cold and the awful weather and the holidays, maybe I owed the fandom another one-shot._

* * *

 **Cold Front**

* * *

Azar have mercy on her, Raven was _livid_.

She was hungry, she was tired, she was grumpy and, most of all, she was _cold_.

It was probably an understatement at that; Raven was literally freezing. She was also, more importantly, lost.

If her teeth weren't chattering so much, she'd have let out a sling of uncharacteristic curse words as she shivered beneath her thick, winter cloak. Rage roared within her, like the only, fanning flame that was keeping her alive. The blizzard that blew through the mountains sapped her body heat like it was an icy leech, the blistering winds feeling like the razor-sharp teeth of an ice wraith piercing right through all her protective layers.

Raven could barely feel any part of her limbs. Everything was numb. Her fingers and toes had been the first to go, along with her nose and face. It didn't matter how covered she was; spending enough time out in such extreme conditions would eventually render all articles of clothing useless. The snow was unrelenting, the wind frigid and seeping into her bones. Still, she'd trudged on in defiance. Like hell was she going back to _him_.

The storm attacked her in many directions, clouded her vision, and drained all her strength. Despite all this, she remained far too stubborn and prideful to heed the changeling's advice.

The mission had started off simple enough; investigate the mountains for Brother Blood's newest base of operations. Unfortunately, that was a lot of ground to cover, so Robin had instructed his team to split up in search for any clue they could find. What their tenacious leader had not counted on was the fluctuation in weather.

Raven and Beast Boy had been paired off, and together, they'd been able to cover a huge amount of ground in a short amount of time. However, when the weather gradually worsened and Raven had started to feel the effects of the resilient cold, Beast Boy had suggested waiting the storm out as it would only continue to increase in ferocity throughout the night.

"I had a feeling this was going to happen. There's no way we'll find anything in these conditions. There's a cave I spotted up ahead during my scouting, not too far north from here. We can wait out the worst of it there, build a fire or something," Beast Boy had recommended when the winds had picked up and he'd caught Raven involuntarily shudder in her cloak and gloves.

She'd shaken her head in protest. "We have to press on while we can. Our communicators are jammed and they have no idea where we are."

Truth be told, she'd never have anticipated the seriousness in Garfield's precaution. She'd never have anticipated the way the changeling would react in such a situation, and the result had been somewhat catastrophic.

"Rae, it's freezing out here. If we don't find shelter, we'll die from hypothermia. Have you seen a single critter about?" Beast Boy had grabbed a hold of her arm, giving her a hardened look that she'd seldom ever seen grace the green-skinned teen's youthful features.

She had pondered his question, thinking long and hard. It had angered her somewhat to know that he was right; not a bird, not a rabbit, not an animal in sight. The landscape was a barren, snow-covered wasteland for miles and miles around.

"Didn't think so," he had answered for her once she'd remained silent. "They're all smart enough to realize what they're in for out here. We should do the same. When the weather clears, we'll be able to get a signal on our comms," he had instructed calmly, pulling out the said yellow, circular device from his pocket.

Raven had yanked her arm away from his grasp, hating herself for missing the way his warm, gloves fingers had felt against her frozen skin. "We're sitting ducks if Blood finds us!" She had argued vehemently.

At first, he had appeared shocked and somewhat hurt by her distrust in him. Then, he had simply appeared annoyed. "And walking around in a crazy storm is somehow better? Look at you! You're way too cold to use your powers, and we aren't even in the thick of it yet!"

Bringing her powers into it had made the conversation feel like a personal attack. She had hoped that Beast Boy hadn't noticed. A stupid assumption, really; he always had this uncanny knack for noticing the finer details about her, even when the others didn't. He'd just never be vocal about them until they were called into question. Probably, out of respect for her.

Raven had hated how right he was, but mostly, she'd been surprised. This side of Beast Boy was a rare sighting. She was used to blindly following Robin's orders without question, Robin's good judgement. Often times, she'd even chime in herself, since she figured she had quite the level head on her shoulders. Heck, even Cyborg would presume the role of leader, and she'd follow willingly.

But Beast Boy?

The changeling had never been known for his assertiveness, especially in such tricky, delicate situations. It had been a tough pill to swallow, taking orders from the youngest and least mature of their group, even if his advice had been sound and reasonable.

Raven had been overcome with a sense of defiance. "I'm not going to abandon them. You can do whatever you want," she had stammered through chattering teeth before promptly giving him her back and preparing to stalk away into the blizzard.

Much to her surprise, he had not followed her, like she'd half expected him to. A tiny voice in her head told her that, maybe, she had wanted him to give a bit of chase, but she shut it out immediately. She tried to pretend like she didn't care, like she'd be perfectly fine on her own and it was nothing she couldn't handle. Regardless of whether Beast Boy tagged along or not. She was going to stick to her decision.

By the time she had mustered up the courage to bother glancing back, she'd easily been disheartened when his lean, green form was absent from her line of vision, as if it had somehow cemented her feelings on the matter. Instead, she only saw her lone footprints in the snow, quickly being covered by the merciless onslaught from the heavens above. Everything else was a white-out; not even the evening sky could be seen through the wind's grey chill.

For some reason, discovering how alone she really was had only angered Raven even more, and she had opted to move along quicker, determined to increase the distance between her and Beast Boy as fast as her frozen legs could carry her. The thick tufts of building snow she walked through slipped inside of her boots and melted against her feet and ankles, sending shivers down her spine. Her breath came out in small puffs of warm air as she overexerted herself with the effort to face the weather in the open. Every footstep was a mission, every breath sending a painful, icy, cold chill into her throat and mouth. Her lashes were fringed with the white particles, making it harder for her to see. Her nose ran endlessly, the liquid freezing just over her lips until she would wipe it away with a gloved hand.

She was _so_ , _so_ frigid, and as equally lost.

Raven no longer had any idea where she was or how far back Beast Boy had been when she'd left him. Time seemed to have lost any sense, and she couldn't be certain as to how long she'd been in such a state. It might have only been minutes, but it felt like hours. Everything around her was a hazy blur of snow and wind and treacherous mountain terrain. Her hands clutched at her arms in a futile effort to somehow keep warm amidst the penetrating, bitter frost that attempted to consume her whole.

It was far too late and she'd come way too far by the time she'd realized she should have heeded Garfield's words. It was a shame that she'd only managed to swallow her pride only after all her strength and resolve had left her. Raven, like the fool she had been, had decided to venture into the worst of it, where there was nothing but snow wherever she looked, and no sign of any of her teammates whatsoever. When she'd realized how bleak her current situation appeared, and that she was far too chilled to the bone to call upon her powers, Raven collapsed into the snow. Her legs would no longer obey her, and she had swayed briefly in the wind before it overtook her unsteady gait.

Her body was giving out, her mind growing delusional when she slipped into the snow; the warm, inviting white blanket where warm dreams were a well kept secret...

As her cheek hit the cushioned powder, Raven slowly stopped feeling the cold. She stopped feeling _anything_.

Her eyelids grew heavy as she gave into her tired mind, her fatigued soul, and _rested_. She would enter the land of endless dreaming, where there would be no more retched snow, no more deep biting cold, and no persistent wind. She slipped into a warm embrace, glad to finally have a reprieve from both the numbness, as well as the shadow of a large, green animal that had stalked her thoughts…

Raven entered the silent darkness and didn't care to look back…

* * *

She should have been dead, but dead people weren't supposed to wake up.

Her senses came sluggishly crawling back to her, one by one, as she was slowly pried away from her tight hold onto a peaceful, eternal slumber. She was dragged from it, kicking and screaming, longing again for the warm, comfortable darkness like it was her very soul itself she reached out to.

Except, she hadn't been dragged at all.

She'd been moved by the gentlest of hands.

The blanket of snow that had settled on top of her had been shifted, while strong, desperate paws had proceeded to dig her out from where she'd been buried.

Then, she'd been wrapped in something else, and nestled against wet fur that smelled like sweat and melted snow. She was carried, bobbing up and down to the footsteps of the monster that had her sheltered protectively against it's furry chest.

The first sense that had come back to her had been sound, the second, smell.

Yet Raven hung onto her dreams, hung on dearly to the safety that kept her away from the nipping cold that reached for her with it's icy claws.

Only when she'd listened to the sound of a crackling fire did she begin to _feel_ again, too.

What she felt first was warmth.

Wherever she was, Raven was safe. She could hear the angry, yowling wind in the distance but it remained far away from her.

She was tucked under a blanket, a real one. The material felt soft against her naked skin, encasing her and her body heat so that the frigid chill of the winter night would not touch her.

Not only was there a fluffy blanket wrapped about her slender shoulders, but there seemed to be something _else_ with her beneath the covers; something that ran hotter than she ever could. Whatever it was, it pressed against her naked back, trapping the lovely heat between them like a furnace in a tight space. It snaked over her side, just at her ribcage, ending right below her breasts. It tangled with her legs, and it whispered against her ear and neck, hot and moist. Wherever it touched her alabaster skin, it set fire to her nerves, leaving her tingling with the burning touch.

Raven never wanted it to let go, not after what the frost had so cruelly done to her.

Only when Raven felt 'it' stirring behind her did she recover her other sense; sight.

Her eyes shot open as she came to realize that 'it' was most definitely a 'he', and that she was currently in his strong embrace, wearing nothing more than her simple, black thong.

Then, it was as if it all had come rushing back to her in quick succession. When Raven had opened her eyes, she quickly learned that she was sleeping on the cold, flat ground, facing the small fire that burned a bright orange and yellow. Its flames licked at the scraps of wood in resilience against the chill of the air in the cave. The fire was also the only source of light in the dark depths of the cave she was in. Not too far away lay a pile of sopping wet black and purple clothes, including the soaked padding of her simple white bra.

She ran through the list of things she knew so far, like a dreadful checklist of horrors.

She was still in the mountains.

She wasn't cold anymore.

She most certainly wasn't dead.

She was in a cave, and she was very, very naked under a warm blanket and an even warmer male body.

Male, because she could feel the bulge there, burrowed against her backside, quite possibly hotter than the rest of him.

The thing draped around her body was his arm, snuggled right below her breasts, the palm of his hand flushed against her skin. The pads of his fingertips seared into her sensitive flesh the more aware she became of the situation. The embrace was intimate, and she was at his mercy.

The warm air against her cheek was his breath. Exhale, inhale. His chest gently moved against her back. He nuzzled the nook of her shoulder, the tip of his cold nose pressing into her neck and hair. He hit a sensitive spot, and as a result, her skin involuntarily prickled with gooseflesh. Her nipples became hard, rosy buds, but his hand kept its distance from her feminine anatomy, barely brushing against the round edges of her bosom.

Despite her worst fears, Raven was somehow not feeling afraid. An enemy would not be cuddling her under layers of blankets. A friend? A teammate?

Judging from all his soft edges, she could deduce that it wasn't Victor.

It couldn't have been Robin, either. No way would Starfire sit back and allow him to engage in such a lewd act right before her eyes.

That left Beast Boy.

The more Raven thought about it, the more it made sense, how the green changeling fit the description perfectly. He'd been the one closest to her in vicinity, the only one who would have grown stressed with worry after he'd let her leave in stubbornness.

Raven gulped before she willed herself to look down under the covers at the strong arm that held her there, against him.

She coloured visibly upon noticing the way her exposed breasts were just on top of his green arm. Her heart raced within her chest, her mouth going dry while Raven did her best to contain her wild emotions.

Beast Boy dozed softly, rubbing his soft lips against her neck, his nose tucked away against her ear and hair. He hummed contently as he shuffled closer to the empath. "Mmmmm…"

She should have been angry, outraged, disgusted by it all.

Mostly, Raven was just embarrassed.

The cave was still cold, the nipping wind slipping inside, bringing along a few wisps of snowflakes with it. The two of them were deep enough for it to barely reach them, but if Raven left the safe confines of their embrace, she had no doubt that she would freeze. Especially when she was so… _vulnerable_.

Beneath those covers, tucked into Beast Boy's arms, she was warm and comfortable, with the fire, and perhaps more, making her face flush with heat.

If she was being honest, then she felt humbled; she hadn't listened to him. She had doubted his sensible logic because she had been too prideful. With that, she'd nearly died, freezing to death on a mountain, where her remains would have been forever buried beneath layers of ice and snow, never to be found.

Somehow, the changeling had figured it was going to happen, and ventured out to find her. Somewhere along the way, her clothes had soaked through, and he'd done the only thing he could think of to bring her back to life.

"You're awake," his voice was gruff with sleep in her ear, as he inhaled deeply through his nose.

Raven held her breath, not sure what to anticipate. A crude joke? An awkward comment? Would his hand slip just enough?

Beast Boy shifted behind her, his arm coming away from her body. He sat up and took the heat with him, much to Raven's disappointment. She fought off the urge to whimper at the loss of contact, feeling the weakness of her more mortal flesh like a fish missed water.

Beast Boy rubbed at his tired eyes, stretching out the sleep from his aching muscles. "I thought I'd nearly lost you there," he confessed sheepishly.

His mop of green hair was even messier than usual, and his dark jade eyes reflected the orange flame in a spark of color. Raven pulled the covers up to her chin, growing increasingly self conscious of her nudity with every passing minute.

Whereas Beast Boy had left her the tiny underwear she was in to preserve her dignity when he'd opted to strip her out of her wet clothes, he had decided to remain as naked as the day he'd come crawling.

The blanket sat on his lap, barely covering the thick tuft of dark green hairs just below his navel, along with his other more private bits. She could even make out his prominent hipbones, the faint traces of his lean abdomen, and a dusting of small, fine green hair. Scars marked his muscled torso in sharp, light green blemishes, many uneven and shallow. Raven averted her gaze when she realized she'd been ogling him shamelessly with her mouth open.

If Garfield was fazed at all by the uncomfortable nudity, he couldn't have been any less obvious about it. In fact, the changeling acted as if it were perfectly natural, not even bothering to acknowledge Raven's stark, pale, naked frame. She clutched at the edges of the faux fur blanket with a vice-like grip, trying to remember how to breathe while simultaneously not dying from embarrassment.

"You're warm enough now. The storm's still going, though. At this rate, we should wait until the morning. Hopefully the others are alright…." Beast Boy had a wistful look on his face, his mind clearly elsewhere.

Then, he met her violet gaze head on.

"I'll uh…I'll put on some clothes if you don't mind," he told her, suddenly bashful.

He scratched at the back of his head, sending the already askew hairs into more of a wild frenzy.

No gloating, no anger, no cold shoulder. None of the reactions that Raven had prepared herself for. She'd been so obviously in the wrong, and he'd suffered trying to get to her, surely. He owed her a good scolding, even she could admit to that. Instead, Beast Boy remained his cheery old self, looking around for his uniform and underwear as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Raven finally found her voice, although it was hoarse and rougher than usual. "You came looking for me…," she whispered huskily.

He took a break from hunting down his clothes and the blanket slipped a little bit lower down his thighs before he noticed and grabbed at it.

"Of course I did," he began explaining, "I mean, I didn't want to at first; you were being difficult and it got to me a little bit...," he admitted shamefully. "Then I figured I was just being a stubborn jackass, and that you were my assigned teammate for the mission. Part of the job description to have your back, no matter what, after all. Even if said teammate has a death wish."

It certainly wasn't a reprimanding like she'd probably deserved and would have received from leaders like Robin or Cyborg. When she realized it, she blurted it out rather than keeping it a silent thought to herself, "You know, you wouldn't make a half bad leader, Beast Boy."

His brows shot up, his eyes growing wide in surprise. He blinked a few times, as if trying to compute the compliment the reserved empath had given him. Then, he pointed at himself and asked, " _Me_? A _leader_?"

Raven couldn't help the small, shy smile that formed on her lips when she nodded once in response.

Beast Boy didn't appear convinced. "I don't know…I can't do half the stuff Robin does. I don't think I've ever thought of myself as a leader of anything. In the Doom Patrol, I followed orders. The Teen Titans has been pretty much the same. If Robin is ever out of commission, Cy's our guy. If he's out, then Starfire for sure. Heck, I'd pick _you_ before I picked myself, Rae," he blatantly acknowledged.

Raven shook her head briskly in protest, her dark purple hair moving with her. "I almost died out there, Beast Boy. Not only did you find me, you…," she trailed off, glancing down at both of their nudity with a flush to her otherwise pale cheeks.

It went without saying exactly what Beast Boy had done. What had truly gotten to Raven was the level of maturity that he'd done it with. He'd been respectful of her, as respectful as he could be while also trying to warm her up, not perturbed in the least by the more perverted implications.

"You did the right thing," she managed to croak, her throat thick with unspoken tension. He would never know how hard it was for her to admit that.

"Survival instincts, Rae," he replied. "You were frozen to the bone when I found you, and wet with melting snow. Wet clothes are only going to make it harder to get heat back into your body. So, I started up a fire and let them dry beside them. They may need a bit more time, though," he said, shrugging his shoulders and staring into the bright orange flames.

Then, he grinned so wide that his unusually sharp canines made an appearance. "And everyone knows skin to skin is one of the best ways to transfer body heat. Unlike our furry counterparts, we don't have a thick coat of hair to keep us insulated."

Raven stopped him there, a grimace on her face and her hand coming up in surrender. "Okay, I get it. I won't murder you for this, but if you so much as tell a soul about it, I won't speak to you ever again," she threatened.

Then, she jutted out her bottom lip and stared at the blackened wood beneath the fire, mumbling something under her breath.

Beast Boy leaned in, her words too jumbled even for his keen ears. "What was that, Rae?"

She closed her eyes and sighed before begrudgingly repeating herself. "I said, get back under the blankets…"

"Uh…," Beast Boy stared down in confusion at his exposed green torso, but Raven opened the blanket as an indication for him to get in.

"Cuddle me," she instructed coldly, her eyes not able to meet his own.

Realizing she would not ask him again, Beast Boy quickly obeyed. He slipped back under the covers with her where she nestled herself against him, her lithe body conforming perfectly to his. This time, she faced him, her pert breasts pushed against his chest and her smooth, long legs tangling with his own. She settled her chin into his shoulder and wrapped her arms about his slim waist, her cold fingers kneading the muscles of his back.

For the first time since he'd found her in the snow, Beast Boy became self conscious of the intimacy of their current predicament. He also didn't know what to do with his hands. Touching her anywhere seemed like a bad idea, especially when so much of her was so deliciously naked.

He went for her waist before realizing he'd brushed one of her bare butt cheeks instead, and panicked. Her immediate reaction to his inappropriate touch was shockingly _not_ using her powers to send him flying out of the cave. Instead, she crooned into him, wanting to feel more of his flushed skin beneath her own.

Beast Boy shut his eyes and tried to think of unpleasant things; anything other than the fact that a hot girl was naked and in his arms. Anything that wasn't Raven's round backside and long, strong legs. Most definitely not her soft but firm breasts planted against him.

"Naked Mother Mae-Eye. Naked Mother Mae- Eye. Naked Mother Mae-Eye…ugh, that's gross…," he whispered to himself, with eyes squeezed closed.

It was probably an image that would be seared into his mind forever, but he was so desperate not to ruin the moment they were having that he had to try. And what would ruin it more than an impromptu boner pressing into Raven's warm thigh?

Just like that, Mother Mae-Eye's naked figure morphed into the far more appealing, pale, girlish shape of a certain purple haired vixen.

" _Ugh_ ," Garfield groaned helplessly.

"Beast Boy…," Raven purred into his ear, feeding off his lust like a thirsty wolf lapped at fresh water.

Her leg wrapped around his, moving slowly up and down his muscular thigh. His hand traveled down her trim waist, as if to have a mind of its own, coming to rest on her thick hip and the flimsy strap of her underwear. She shuddered under his touch and ground her hips against his, pressing his erection further up the inside of her thigh.

He moved his hand down her full bottom, sliding his palm down under her leg and hooking it over his hip. Her hands came up to his chest, pausing at his heart, where it beat fast and steady beneath her palm. Then, she continued her journey up to his collarbone and throat, cupping his strong jaw at the end. Both of their eyes had fluttered closed, while they breathed against each other heavily, the tips of their noses nearly brushing.

His fingers dug into the soft, supple flesh of her upper thigh, kneading his way up to her firm butt. He moaned when she inhaled sharply as he squeezed her there. She bucked her hips slowly against him, ever mindful of the head of his rigid, twitching member pushing against the thin cloth of her underwear. It rubbed her through the fabric, and her fingers became claws that dug into his defined shoulders.

"Raven…," he huffed her name, his lips drawing closer to her open, warm mouth.

His free hand came up to run along the swell of her breast, teasing and tantalizingly close to the hardened bud of her nipple. Her chest heaved into his touch and she gasped girlishly.

They explored one another's bodies, learning every curve and every detail with their hands, craving the other's touch like their life depended on it.

Beast Boy attacked her slender neck with his warm mouth, his hot tongue darting out to taste the salt on her skin. Raven mewled, her fingers tangling in the mess of his thick hair.

He shifted his weight so that he barely hovered overtop of her, licking and kissing her neck like a vampire went for the jugular. His fangs grazed just over the skin of her bounding pulse, and Raven snared her legs around his waist, his erection bobbing between them and pressing against her belly. The cave echoed with the wet, smacking noises of his mouth, the crackling flame, and the angry, howling wind from the blizzard outside. Raven could also hear her own heartbeat in her ears, mad and fast the more lust she consumed. She never wanted him to stop doing what he was doing; it felt heavenly, the way his hot mouth kissed and sucked on her neck. She could hardly imagine what it might have felt like elsewhere on her body.

She bit her bottom lip in frustration at the thought, her loins aching for a form of release. Her warm core begged for his attention as she raised her hips to meet his in desperation.

Her fingers dug into the corded muscles of his upper arms, all the while she moaned in pleasure beneath him, no longer paying any attention to the cold, or anything else that wasn't in relation to the green shapeshifter himself.

His hand slipped down her flat stomach, past the hem of her thong, where his fingers began gently stroking her wet nether lips, soaking through her panties. He met her mouth with his own, shyly, despite the incredible torture his fingers were currently administering. He kissed her tentatively, his lips raw from his previous attack on her neck. He appeared hesitant at first, testing the waters of what he could and could not do to her. When she kissed him back, just as unsure as he had, he worked on deepening it. He kissed her longer, maybe a little harder, maybe with a little tongue. She met him halfway each time, her heartbeat thrumming in her ears like a drum. It was true that he was sloppy; an obvious tell that he hadn't kissed anyone before. But his fingers had a skill of their own; he slid his hand into her underwear, opened her lips and gently stroked the nub of her clit, eliciting a sharp cry from Raven's mouth every time he skidded over the slippery bundle of nerves.

She bucked her hips wildly into his touch, clutching at his tense forearm the more he worked her up. Her chest, fully exposed for his eyes to consume, expanded each time she took in a sudden breath, her bountiful cleavage moving with the exertion. The dark rose skin of her areolas developed goosebumps upon exposure to the cold air of the cave, and the small buds rose hard and erect in the chill of the night.

Raven's shallow moans and gasps echoed throughout the cavern walls as Beast Boy drove her closer to sweet release. He rubbed her a little bit faster with the thick pad of his thumb, a bit too rough for her until she told him to move more gently. Then, he skimmed against her clit in varying speeds and pressure, until Raven felt the bubbling build up of her orgasm consume her senses. Her hips drove up a few more times, and then the cave was filled with her pleasured, honeyed cries. She gushed onto Beast Boy's fingers, coating him in her warm juices. Her screams died on her lips, only drowned out by the ongoing blizzard just outside. Her legs felt like jelly, and her breathing came in rapid and labored as wave after wave of pure ecstasy rode her body without mercy.

Beast Boy sat up and pulled his fingers out from her underwear, staring at the way the liquid glistened and covered his digits, a hungry look in his amber glazed, half lidded eyes.

Raven's womanhood had easily become the warmest part of her body, and yet, she still ached at the sight of the changeling licking her juices off him.

"Y-you taste really good…," he stammered breathily, once he'd sucked every finger clean.

The idea of his face buried between her legs was enough to make Raven reach out and plant her hot mouth against his in an open embrace, their tongues clashing. It had caught Beast Boy off guard, but he melted into it easily enough.

Raven's powers, so hindered upon emotion, had most likely caused an avalanche nearby upon her earth-shattering orgasm. Starfire had been the one to note the tremors first, and had hastily gone to investigate, desperate to locate her remaining friends and save them from any impending danger.

That was how she had happened upon the cave tucked away into the mountain side and facing against the wind. When she'd ventured inside after communicating to both Robin and Cyborg what she'd discovered, she had found Beast Boy and Raven naked and lip-locked by the fire, both too invested in one another to note her presence.

It was shocking enough to make Starfire cover her mouth before she gasped and ruined the moment. Slowly and carefully, she back tracked out of the cave, being sure of where she stepped, while also consumed with an inexplicable giddiness. She would have loved nothing more than to stay a bit longer and watch, but knew that if she did, there was a high chance she'd drive them suddenly apart, with Raven potentially gleaning her barely contained emotions.

By the time Cyborg and Robin had joined her, Starfire stood guard at the cave entrance and barred them from going inside. "I cannot allow you to disturb our friends at this time. We shall find shelter close by and wait for them. Should either of you grow curious and disobey my wishes, however…," she paused for dramatic effect before shooting an angry, thunderous, green bolt from her hands at Cyborg's feet, making him jump back with a surprised yelp.

"Okay, okay! As long as you're sure they're safe," Robin seceded with his hands up once he'd noticed how serious the flame-haired beauty was.

Starfire then led the group away, the blizzards of the mountain hardly having any effect on her, despite the amount of skin she displayed proudly. When Robin had offered her a coat, the Tamaranean warrior princess could not understand why. "The frigid weathers of your planet are nothing compared to some of the harsh climates of Tamaran," she'd reminded him.

"Right," he had said, although he'd also mumbled something inaudible under his breath shortly after; something about attempting to be a gentleman.

"You ever gonna tell us what they're doin' in that cave, Star?" Cyborg pestered her once they'd found their own nook in the side of the mountain to hide away in.

Starfire shook her head. "No. It is, how you would say, the minding of your own business?"

Robin and Cyborg exchanged a look, but didn't say anything more on the matter, both knowing when the alien princess had drawn a fine line that would be ill advised to cross. The two of them would simply have to wait and get the full story from Raven and Beast Boy themselves.

Perhaps after the blizzard would finally come to pass…

* * *

 **A/N:** _Woops. That kind of happened. Ahem. It's festive, right? No? Oh well. I tried._


End file.
